A LAND SETTLEMENT ASSOCITION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 30

A LAND SETTLEMENT ASSOCITION.

The native-born of Kaikoura, Marl-, borough, have banded themselves together into i -a ..Young New.Zealanders' Land, . Settlement -Association,- 'the 'object? ofV" which is to promote land settlement and to direct a searchlight on' the .methods employed 1 in^ subdividing and letting Crown lands. The department's policy and the policy of the ;Land' Boards -come equally- within /thescope of the association, whioh it is hoped will" extend to all parts of New Zealand. The association has commenced .b'sj singling out for approval a plank of general policy to be urged on the department, and it has also singled out for protest a particular sample of subdivision proposed by the Marlborough Board. The policy proposal is the acquisition, on the voluntary principle, for closer settlement of large freehold estates — especially where they are not being utilised to their -fullest capacity, — but nob of estates inflated in value by the construction, or pending connstruction, of j Government railways, or by abnormal value of produce, as such purchases are likely to cause the oolony loss and the tenant ruin. With regard to tho proposed subdivision of the Woodside country, 12,860 acres of good Crown lands, the association decided that the setting aside of so large an area as 5000 acres for a travelling stock reserve (where a smaller area is only required), and leasing it by | auction inevitably secures it to adjoining landowners, who already possess 10,000 acres of freehold along the sea frontage of the Woodside country ; also that the reservation of 5460 acres for the growth and preservation of timber, whe.re no timber exists, save a little useless light scrub, is another veiled attempt of the Marlborough Land Board to benefit the same landowners at the expense of the landless youth of the colony. This resolution has been sent to the Minister of Lands whom the associaj eion requests to intervene, and to have the Woodside country subdivided into small ' grazing runs, and a small area reserved for travelling stock, whioh would amply suffice for that purpose. A deputation was then appomted to proceed to Wellington to interview the Minister. The association invites young New Zealanders throughout the colony to form branches of the organisation, and to communicate with the Pjresi^

dent and secretary, Mr Walter Gibson, of Kaikoura.